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6607671 
Journal Article 
Summary abstract: low-density polystyrene foam materials for direct-drive laser inertial confinement fusion targets 
Fung-Ming, K; Cook, R; Haendler, B; Hair, L; Letts, S 
1988 
1 
Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A
ISSN: 0734-2101
EISSN: 1520-8559 
6 
3 
1894-1895 
INSPEC:3231064 
Summary form only given. Polystyrene foams have been investigated for use as direct-drive laser inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. The foams the authors are making will be used to hold a mixture of liquid deuterium and tritium (DT) in a spherical shell configuration. To perform this task, the material must meet certain specifications which arise from both target physics and liquid wetting stability constraints. The target physics requirements on the foam include a density of 0.05 g/cm3, a cell size of 4 mum, a pore size of 1 mum, a density variation of 1% in 30-mum-diameter cores through the foam, and a minimum amount of higher atomic number contaminants. The process they use for making polystyrene foams is based on an inverse-emulsion system developed by Unilever Research Laboratory, and also reported by Litt et al. (1987). A mixture of 95% water in 5% styrene, divinylbenzene, and a surfactant is emulsified by mechanical energy, either stirring or pumping, to form a high-internal-phase emulsion. The emulsion is then thermally polymerized and the resulting foam dried in a vacuum oven.